


Relativity

by MyFirstAndLastVow09



Series: Rain In Gotham [9]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Hospital, Hurt/Comfort, Injured Edward, Injured Oswald, Kissing, Love, M/M, Oswald Cobblepot & Jim Gordon friendship, Oswald and Ed really need to stop being interrupted when being affectionate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 19:40:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9199643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyFirstAndLastVow09/pseuds/MyFirstAndLastVow09
Summary: It's a long road to recovery. For everyone.





	

Jim knew it wouldn’t be easy getting into the warehouse. It ended up being the last warehouse they checked, closest to the water…of course. Three officers were already down with gunshot wounds, luckily none were fatal. Jim himself had already been in two brawls with rather large assailants, and he was working on his third of the last twenty minutes. Fuck sake, Jim thought. How many men did she have with her? And were they all giants? 

“Pretty boy cop. You ain’t gettin’ in there,” the man growled. Jim ducked around his rather large fist yet again, and was ready to attack on his own when he suddenly crashed in a heap on the ground in front of him. 

“That’s where you’re wrong, compadre.” Harvey said, throwing down a 2x4 that had blood on the end of it. Jim couldn’t be more grateful that Harvey Bullock was his partner and friend. Harvey stretched out a hand to help him up. 

“Thanks,” Jim huffed out, standing and shaking himself out of his stupor. The man hit him in the head a few times, and he was surprised he was still standing. “Any sign of her yet?” He asked, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Nah. She’s in there waiting, I bet.”

“Dammit. We need to get in there now,” Jim growled. He pulled the walkie talkie he had out of the holster on his belt, and addressed the rest of his team. “Do we have an all clear?”

“Clear out here,”

“Clear on this side,” 

“Backside clear.” 

“Snipers down, sir,” Jenkins added. 

“Jim, we don’t know if she’s all alone in there,” Harvey commented, checking his gun for the rounds he had left. 

“I doubt she would have brought that many with her. She’s cocky,” Jim looked around for any sign of movement from the building. When he saw nothing, “All clear, here.” He said to the group.

“There were at least fifteen men out here!” 

“Fine. What do we do then?” He knew what Harvey was going to say, and he wasn’t going to like it. 

“Try talking to her. Negotiate. She doesn’t want to die, obviously. But, I doubt she will want to go to prison, either. But, if it’s between prison and death…I think she would choose jail.” Harvey pointed out. Jim let out a long exhale. 

“Okay. We’ll try talking. But, if she moves to kill either one of them, I’m going for it,” Jim’s tone gave no room for argument. 

“Right,” Harvey agreed. “There is a back way in, so we can surprise her. She took both of them, not just Ed, so she clearly wanted an audience. She won’t kill them right away if we go in,” 

That doesn’t help, Jim thought and spoke into the walkie talkie again. “Team Alpha on me! We’re going in. Beta, back us up.” He put it back in his belt and pulled out his gun. Jim went first through the backside door and noticed the room was dark, except for a few florescent lights. 

“Where is she, man?” Harvey whispered beside him. 

“No idea. Keep your eyes open,” Jim looked around and saw a few large fish hooks hanging in the corner of the ceiling, and his stomach churned with the thoughts of the hell Oswald and Ed had been subjected to. 

“Hello, boys,” a voice cut through the darkness and Jim, Harvey and the rest of team trained their guns on the source of the noise. "I didn't know Ozzie's buddy was a cop," 

“GCPD! Put down your weapon!” Jim called out. Holy shit, he thought. That’s Isabella, alright because she WAS a dead fucking ringer for Kristen Kringle. Ed, what the hell were you thinking? 

“See, I would but then you would either kill me or arrest me and I can say that neither will be happening. At least not until I’ve finished,” She reached out her heeled foot and kicked something at her feet, which made a feeble noise. Jim couldn’t tell if it was Oswald or Ed. He started walking a bit closer, with Harvey behind him. He noticed Oswald first, who seemed to be unconscious and Jim saw red. It took everything he had in him to not shoot this woman where she stood. 

“Listen, we can talk about this.” Jim tried, but she cut him off. 

“NO! I am NOT going to negotiate this. This is my right! A life for a life. Well, in this case, two lives,” Isabella growled out, making Jim's eyes go wide. He could see her gun shaking in her hands. This was not good. Jim knew she was a professional, but even pros have their limits and losing her sister was it. 

“If you walk out of here with me, you have options. You have kidnapped and tortured the two highest officials in the city, Isabella. That isn’t something that can be ignored.” 

“I didn’t want to be ignored! I knew what I was doing. I’ve been planning this for a long….long time,” Isabella trained her gun on Jim. “You will not interrupt me before I’ve finished this,” 

“N—no,” a voice that Jim recognized as Ed’s, scratchy as it was, stammered out. 

“Now you speak, you worthless bastard?! Now you want to defend yourself? YOU TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME!” Isabella screamed at Ed and pointed her gun at him.

“You c-can’t hurt O—Oswald,” Ed bit out through gritted teeth. He was laying, broken and bleeding out from all the stab wounds he had endured during this woman’s torture. He knew he was going to die, but he couldn’t let her kill Oswald. He had come too far for her to kill him now. He would be damned if Oswald would die at her hand, because of his own mistakes. “Y—you should have l—learned how to t—tie knots,” With all the effort he could muster, he wrenched his one wrist that wasn’t broken from the rope behind his back and swiped his arm underneath her feet, tripping her. He had spent every moment he wasn’t unconscious trying to get free, so he could get to Oswald. He knew Oswald was unconscious from blood loss, and Ed needed him to survive. If any good could come out of this, he needed to live. He loved Oswald too much to lose him. 

“ARGH! YOU--,’’ Isabella cried out, but she never finished because Jim was on her, trapping her to the floor, and already cuffing her hands behind her back. 

“Get those medics in here!” Harvey called out running over to Ed and Oswald, and Jim was wrenching Isabella to her feet. 

“Do you know what he’s done? She killed her! She was all I had and he took her from me!” She screamed, with tears streaming down her pale cheeks. 

“What you have done doesn’t make it right. He served his time in Arkham. I’m not saying he’s excused from his past, but he has tried to move on from it. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. But, that is not up for you to decide. You also, in the process of all of this, harmed someone I care about very much. He had absolutely nothing to do with any of this. You’re lucky you are going away for a long time, let’s put it that way,” Jim growled to her. He handed her off to another officer. “Get her out of here.” Jim wasted no time, and ran back into the building, over to where Oswald and Ed were being raised on stretchers by the EMT’s. Jim rushed to Oswald’s side and cradled his face in his hands gently. “You’re going to get through this. You’re strong,” 

“You gonna ride with him?” Harvey asked. A raspy voice interrupted before Jim could answer. 

“J-jim,” 

“We have to get them to the hospital,” The EMT motioned toward Ed and then rushed Oswald into the ambulance, and Jim nodded and walked over to Ed, as they were wheeling him in behind Oswald.

“Is he going to be ok?” Ed asked, coughing weakly. 

“I don’t know.” Jim answered honestly. The adrenaline was wearing off, and he was now beginning to panic. “You need to get to the hospital.” 

“I didn’t—“ Ed tried, and ended up coughing again. He needed to let Jim know that he had nothing to do with this, and that he would rather die than see Oswald hurt like this. 

“I know, Ed. We’ll talk later,” Jim croaked out. The EMT’s rushed Ed into the same ambulance, and Jim looked back at Harvey. 

“Go. I’ll tell Barnes,” Harvey knew that Jim wouldn’t be pried from that man’s side right now with anything less than a gun to his head, and even then it still wouldn’t be enough. Harvey would cover for him, and Barnes would just have to deal with it. 

“Thanks,” and Jim clambered into the ambulance with them. 

Jim watched as the EMT’s hooked them both up to oxygen masks, and IV’s, as both men were severely dehydrated, and suffering from contusions all over their bodies. Oswald had a severe concussion, broken ribs, and multiple stab wounds, one in his bad leg. Ed was even worse, with multiple stab wounds, including one in his chest and a broken leg, which looked like it had been beaten repeatedly. She did a real number on him, and Jim was surprised to find himself worried about his former friend. No matter their past, he knew Edward Nygma’s death would send Oswald into a tailspin. He had already lost both of his parents to murder. Not only that, Ed had been sort of a stabilizing influence on Oswald, more than Jim himself ever was, loathe he was to admit it. The city had benefitted from them both in office, shocking the hell out of everyone at GCPD. 

“Will they live?” Jim asked, the EMT closest to him. He figured he would just cut to the chase.

“Hard to tell. They are in a bad way,” he said, shaking his head. Jim was silent the rest of the trip, hoping against hope that everything would turn out alright. He knew that when it rained in Gotham, it fucking poured. 

 

A few hours later, Jim has been aching from the punches he had received during the rescue, but he refused to be treated until he had news on Oswald and Ed. Bruises had begun to form on his jaw and under his right eye. A nurse had offered him some ice earlier for them, which he accepted, but no further treatment. He was more worried about them. He stretched his neck from side to side, and stood to go find some coffee, as he felt the fatigue trying to drag him under as he sat there. Hospital coffee was about as disgusting as the coffee at the precinct, but it was better than nothing. 

“Here you go, partner.” Jim looked up and half-smiled. Harvey Bullock was a god damned saint. That was the explanation for his being there, standing in front of Jim with coffee from his favorite coffee shop that was a few blocks from his apartment. 

“How did you--?” Jim asked, bewildered. 

“Know? Trust me. I’ve been here, and it ain't fun. Any news?” Harvey asked, both he and Jim sitting back down in the waiting room. 

“Not yet. They both needed transfusions, Oswald had internal bleeding and Ed had a partially collapsed lung, so they both needed surgery. I just wish there was something I could do instead of sitting here and waiting. This waiting is killing me. What if—“ Jim began but Harvey shook his head. 

“No. Do not begin that what if shit. You will drive yourself crazy. Those loons have been through worse than this. They will make it out ok,” 

“How do you know, though?” 

“Because I am all knowing,” Harvey joked, and Jim half smiled. 

“Detective Gordon?” Jim immediately stood at the sound of the doctor’s voice. 

“Yes? Are they alright?” 

“The mayor and his chief of staff have been through a lot. They won’t be up and about for a few days. A few weeks on Mr. Nygma’s part, as his leg was completely shattered. We had to reset the bones, and he will be in a cast. Mr. Cobblepot will need to take it easy as well, since we had to go in and repair the tearing in his stomach. But, they are both young and healthy, and I expect them to make a full recovery.” Dr. Sanders explained. Jim let out a long exhale and blinked back grateful tears. 

“Thank you, Doctor.” Harvey replied. Jim smiled at the doctor as well. 

“Yes, thank you,” 

“Mayor Cobblepot would like to see you. I told him a Detective was out here in the waiting room for him and he said and I quote, “Tell him to get back here immediately and he had better have eaten something’” Dr. Sanders chuckled. 

Jim laughed. Oswald knew him too well. “Sounds like him. I’ll go back. Thanks again,” Jim nodded and Dr. Sanders disappeared back down the hallway he came from. “You coming?” 

“Nah. Give you some time alone,” Harvey quipped. Jim rolled his eyes. 

“Didn't you hear? Oswald and Ed are an item, now,”

“Yeah, see, that’s a visual I didn’t need and was repressing. Thanks a lot,” Harvey shuddered. 

“No problem, partner.” Jim grinned at him and made his way through the hospital for Oswald’s room. 

When he pushed the door open, he noticed Oswald resting in bed, and Jim’s heart clenched painfully at the sight. He had seen Oswald in various states of hurt, but nothing compared to this. One eye was black and blue, and completely swollen shut, with a large cut across his right cheek. His left hand was in a cast, as it was fractured. His skin had a sallow look to it, and he looked even skinnier than usual. He wanted to cradle Oswald to his chest to make sure nothing and no one ever hurt him again. But…that wasn’t his place anymore. It was Ed’s, and surprisingly Jim was actually okay with that. 

“Hey, you,” Jim murmured, with a half-smile. He sat in the chair beside Oswald’s bed. Oswald immediately opened his eyes and smiled as much as he could at him. 

“You came for me. I knew you would,” He reached his good arm towards Jim and Jim took his hand into his own. Oswald was so thankful to have Jim Gordon as his friend, and was going to make sure he would get a nice bonus as soon as he got back to work. Jim wouldn't ever accept it if it came from him personally, but if it came from his job, well, there wasn't much Jim could say about that. Oswald smiled at Jim, and at his own thoughts. 

“Well, you never just plain ignore me. And you would never cancel on me for no reason. Also, there was the fact you hate technology and don’t email. That was a big clue,” Jim rubbed his thumb across Oswald’s hand soothingly. Although, it was more to calm his own nerves by reassuring himself that Oswald was alright. 

“She truly was an idiot.” Oswald sighed and leaned back on his pillows and grunted in pain. “She hurt him, Jim. She almost killed him. I wanted to rip her head off of her shoulders.” He sniffed and Jim squeezed his hand a little tighter. “We literally just told each other that—I mean, we JUST came clean with each other about how we felt.“ 

“Oh, Os,” Jim shook his head sadly. 

“Yes. Why does everything in my life go wrong? Why is it so damn hard just to stay happy, even for a minute? People wonder why I have done things in my past that I have, but I am human. Humans can only be pushed so far! I wanted her DEAD, Jim! DEAD! Prison isn't good enough for that bitch!” Oswald cried out, and Jim saw tears streaming down his face. Jim looked to the bed across from Oswald’s, to see Ed asleep. The fact that he wasn’t in a coma was a miracle in itself, but Jim wasn’t surprised. Ed’s mind could never rest that long. 

“Os, listen to me. Ed fought for you back there. He didn’t care about what happened to himself at all. He only cared that you survived this. He told me himself,” Oswald scrunched his face up while more tears fell. “You both will get past this. I promise you that. Now, I know I haven’t been Mr. Positivity about yours and Ed’s relationship in the past. But, he makes you happy. I will do everything I can to make damn sure nothing gets in the way of that. You’ve been through enough,” 

“I know what Ed put you through, Jim. We talked about that while he was in Arkham. He does regret it. You were his friend.” Oswald said, letting go of Jim’s hand to wipe his tears away. Jim reached over to the table by his bed and grabbed a tissue box and handed it to him. “Thanks.” 

“I know that now.” Jim admitted. 

“Does this mean…?” Oswald asked, hopefully. He knew Jim would get what he meant.

“Um…I don’t know, honestly. I can’t say I will ever forgive him for the past, but I think we can maybe move past it. This is Gotham. Stranger things have happened, right?” Jim joked, not wanting to think about that too much at the moment. It had already been a long day, and he needed to think on that one for a bit.

Oswald chuckled. “I should say so,” 

A grunt interrupted them, and Oswald and Jim looked toward Ed’s bed, to notice he was waking up. “I’ll get the doctor,” Jim offered, smiling at Oswald. 

“Thank you, old friend,” Oswald nodded at him, with a soft smile. 

“Anytime.” Jim nodded at Ed, and left the two alone. 

 

“Hello, there,” Oswald chirped. He was so happy Ed was awake and looking at him (well, through swollen eyes, but all the same). 

“Hi,” Ed grunted out. He was in so much pain, but seeing Oswald smiling at him like that made it melt away some. “How are you feeling?” 

“Oh, don’t worry about me. How are you?” Oswald deflected in wanting to make sure Ed was okay. As okay as he could be right now, anyway.

“I feel like the largest moron in the world right now. I should have seen this coming.” Ed berated himself, and Oswald shook his head. He was in large amounts of pain, especially in his bad leg and stomach, but he didn’t care. He sat up and with a large amount of effort, swung both legs to the side of the bed and stood up gently. He tore the IV's out of his arms, and hobbled over to Ed’s bedside and sat down on the edge, where Ed sat with a horrified expression. 

“Oswald! Get back in bed this instant! The amount of risk of reopening wounds after treatment by moving too quickly are very high—“ Ed was cut off by a pair of soft lips on his own, as Oswald kissed him. He had a split lip, but he didn’t care. He thought that he would never feel Oswald’s lips on his again, and the euphoric feeling that came with it. Oswald rested his forehead against Ed’s and sighed at the feeling. 

“You saved me,” Oswald whispered. He ran his uninjured hand across Ed’s face, gently so he didn’t cause him anymore pain. “This wasn’t your fault, and please stop thinking that it was.”

“I should have seen this coming,” Ed repeated and felt tears sting his eyes, and he hid his face in Oswald’s palm. “You almost died, Oswald and I will never forgive myself for that.”

“No, how could you have? You have already paid the price five times over for past indiscretions, and we both agreed to move on, remember? Remember that now, Ed,” Oswald pleaded and kissed Ed’s forehead. His body was screaming in protest to lay back down, and the machines at his bedside were beeping uncontrollably for Oswald disconnecting them, but he didn’t care. 

“You will still have me? Even after all of this?” Ed asked, voice unsure. 

“You ridiculous man. Nothing could keep me away from you,” Oswald kissed Ed again, this time with a little more force, making sure to get his point across. 

BANG! The door slammed open and two nurses, Jim, and the doctor came bursting through the door to their room. 

Oswald reluctantly stopped kissing Ed’s lips, and placed a kiss on his forehead. “Great timing, I must say!” he complained, and Ed giggled weakly. “Are we ever going to NOT be interrupted? I swear, as soon as I get home, I am locking us in a room and we aren't coming out for a week!" Ed nodded in agreement. He had absolutely no issue with having Oswald all to himself. 

“Mayor Cobblepot! I must insist you get back to bed right now or you both will be stuck here for longer than you would like,” Dr. Sanders chastised them. The nurses helped Oswald back to bed, while Oswald snuck a sidelong glance at Jim, who was smirking. After they got him hooked back up to the IV’s, Dr. Sanders looked Ed over, and made sure his IV fluids were progressing nicely. The Doctor and the nurses left with strict orders for both men to stay in their own beds, and left the room. 

Jim couldn’t help but laugh out loud as soon as the doctor left. “Really?” he asked Oswald. 

“Yes, really! I had to make sure he was alright myself!” Oswald whined at being treated like a child, but he knew the doctor was right. 

“More like had to suck face, you mean,” Jim said, laughing again. Ed, who was taking a sip of his water, spat it back out again. “Confirmation,” he added, nodding to Ed. 

“Jim!” Oswald was blushing and looking at Ed, who was smiling a little. 

“Just calling it like I see it,” Jim shrugged and laid a hand on Oswald’s shoulder. “Get some rest. Listen to the doctors. I mean it,” 

“I know,” Oswald huffed. He knew Jim's heart was in the right place, so he couldn't be too angry with him. 

“Call me if you guys need anything,” Jim offered and smiled at him. 

“I will. Thank you,” Oswald nodded his thanks, and Jim walked over to Ed. Ed’s eyes went as wide as they could, being as swollen as they were, in surprise.

Jim laid a hand on his shoulder, being careful he wasn’t hurting him. “Take care of him,” he said, seriously. 

“You have my word,” Ed said, seriously. Jim nodded back and made his way to leave. He took one last look at them, and waved. Oswald waved back and Ed nodded his goodbye. 

Jim made his way out of the hospital, where Harvey was waiting to drive them back to the precinct. “So…they good?” Harvey asked, fastening his seat belt. 

“Yeah, I think so.” Jim commented, smiling a little. Then he remembered something the doctor said earlier and smiled even wider. “Hey, can we eat first? I'm starving,” 

“Best suggestion I’ve gotten all day,” Harvey agreed, smiling and drove away.

**Author's Note:**

> Will do an epilogue of sorts to tie up some loose ends. Also because I need to write some fluffy Ed and Oswald...maybe a bit of other stuff as well *wink wink* since I've put them through hell. Thanks for reading!


End file.
